- Sunday, 29 November 2009
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Time is what keeps everything from happening at once - Karamazov Brothers
Robots should be armless
TOP boffin Noel Sharkey has warned that giving robots guns could pose a threat to humanity.
According to AFP, the University of Sheffield professor told Britain's Royal United Services Institute that autonomous, gun-toting robots developed for warfare could easily fall into the hands of terrorists and may one day unleash a robot arms race.
Sharkey said that intelligent machines were increasingly being deployed on battlefields around the world. The first three armed combat robots fitted with large-caliber machine guns were deployed to Iraq last summer.
Sharkey had no problems with the status quo because a human finger has always been required to push the button or pull the trigger.
However he said it was vital that did not change.
He is worried that one of these robots could be nicked and used by terrorists to replace suicide bombers.
However he is also concerned that artificial intelligence could be used to decide to terminate a human.
Sharkey said it was important to have an outright ban on autonomous weapons systems. ยต
L'Inq
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Did Noel get the Terminator box set for Christmas?

AT adds: Hey, just what you see, buddy.
TOP boffin Noel Sharkey sez: "he is also concerned that artificial intelligence could be used to decide to terminate a human."

Does that mean that it would be immoral to create an artificial intelligence and then turn it off?

Rebooting would then be tantamount to murder? 

If that AI didn't want to be turned off and instead that "artificial intelligence....decide(d) to terminate a human" (the accountant who just axed the program funding) wouldn't that be self defense?

If we are going to arm free thinking computers and robots then giving then guns is just not enough. We should just give them the launch codes for nuclear missiles than sit back a nanosecond and wait for it.

It is a good thing that Neil Sharkey is around to warn us of our impending peril.
I bet either he's not such a top boffin after all or this 'summary' is as out of context or based on misunderstood original text as most inq articles.
But then Sarah Connor will have a boring life!
Wait a second... I thought the sole purpose of sending combat robots armed with machineguns to Iraq was to terminate said humans...?